Qwallath

Only two stars for style and the first half of the book, *but* 4-5 for Girard's interpretation of the gospels and his conclusion. He is really on to something; his (or rather, the New Testament's) scapegoat theory is a sophisticated analysis of individual-versus-group relations, religion, and sacralised violence. This might be the first book that convinces me that there might be something unique about the Bible as a religious work, as compared to other mythologies.

Though perhaps he does so in a later book (I haven't checked), I wish Girard would just have dropped the polemics and frustrations about historic practice and just presented his case pure and simple, and with more space for explanation and contemplation of contemporary affairs.